Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Antibody tests were hailed as way to end lockdowns. Instead, they cause confusion.

Aspen was an early COVID-19 hot spot in Colorado, with a cluster of cases in March linked to tourists visiting for its world-famous skiing. Tests were in short supply, making it difficult to know how the virus was spreading.

28 May 2020

Is air pollution a risk factor for COVID-19 infection?

The COVID-19 pandemic began at the very end of 2019 in Wuhan city, Hubei province, China. However, its spread soon began to threaten the health of the whole country and then of the world, leading to nearly 5.7 million cases and over 355,000 dead as of today. A new study, published on the preprint server medRxiv* in May 2020, explores the effects of air pollution on COVID-19 infections in China.

27 May 2020

Neurological complications of COVID-19: What is known so far?

Researchers at the São Leopoldo Mandic School of Medicine in Brazil have presented a review of the current data available on the neurological effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-9).

27 May 2020

Mouse model mimics clinical course and pathology observed in COVID-19 patients

A mouse model of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reproduces features observed in human patients, researchers report May 26 in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

27 May 2020

New models use computer vision and AI to identify COVID-19 in X-rays

Students at Cranfield University have designed computer models that can identify COVID-19 in X-rays.

27 May 2020

Emerging antiviral may turn the tide for COVID-19 pandemic

Scientists everywhere are working overtime to develop treatments for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

27 May 2020

My mother died of the coronavirus. It’s time she was counted.

We recently received the death certificate for my mother, who died May 4 in an assisted living facility near New York City. "Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome" was the primary cause. And the secondary — no surprise — was "suspected COVID-19."

27 May 2020

Identifying the Starting Points for COVID19 Treatment

News-Medical spoke to researchers from the German Primate Center on their research in determining the activation sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

27 May 2020

Blood clotting disorders may explain some of the worst symptoms of COVID-19

The hypothesis that blood clotting disorders may explain some of the worst symptoms of COVID-19, including respiratory failure and pulmonary fibrosis, was suggested in mid-April by researchers in Brazil affiliated with the University of São Paulo's Medical School (FM-USP) via an article accepted for publication by the Journal of Thrombosis.

27 May 2020

What affects the case fatality rate of COVID-19? Analysis of top 50 affected countries

Ever since the beginning of the international spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes COVID-19 disease, researchers have been trying to identify the risk factors that increase the chances of infection. Now, a new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in May 2020 discusses various potential factors and reports the observed associations.

27 May 2020

Researchers to study the ability of optical radiation to disinfect surfaces

Now and in the months to come, hospitals and commercial buildings will be tasked with sanitizing large indoor environments to prevent the transmission of viruses like SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.

26 May 2020

Montefiore and Einstein evaluate a new drug combination to fight COVID-19

Montefiore Health System Albert Einstein College of Medicine have begun the next stage of the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT), to evaluate treatment options for people hospitalized with severe COVID-19 infection.

26 May 2020

COVID-like cough sent him to ER — where he got a $3,278 bill

From late March into April, Timothy Regan had severe coughing fits several times a day that often left him out of breath. He had a periodic low-grade fever, too.

26 May 2020

New AI tool could predict risk of lung cancer recurrence

Computer scientists working with pathologists have trained an artificial intelligence tool to determine which patients with lung cancer have a higher risk of their disease coming back after treatment, as part of Cancer Research UK’s landmark TRACERx study.

26 May 2020

HORIBA’s Microsemi CRP helps to keep vulnerable patients away from risk during COVID-19

HORIBA UK Ltd, Medical announces that the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust in partnership with the Cornwall Foundation NHS Trust have recently purchased and installed five new Microsemi CRP point-of-care hematology analyzers.

26 May 2020

EKF secures COVID-19 novel sample collection kit manufacturing and supply contracts

EKF Diagnostics, the global in vitro diagnostics company, announces it has secured new contracts for the manufacture and supply of a novel, patented sample collection device which allows COVID-19 samples to be rapidly inactivated in the collection tube, avoiding contamination and preserving RNA without need for refrigeration.

From EKF Diagnostics 26 May 2020

Challenges of diagnosing Lyme disease in the absence of classic symptoms

Lyme disease can have unusual presentations. Physicians and the public should be aware of its different manifestations, as people spend more time outside in the warmer weather and as the areas in Canada where the black legged tick is found expand.

26 May 2020

Preterm birth rates during COVID-19 in Denmark

The current COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic in March 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO). This led to the enforcement of a lockdown on an almost global scale with wide-ranging consequences. Now, a new Danish study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in May 2020 reveals the impact on preterm birth rates.

26 May 2020

ACE2 receptors for SARS-CoV-2 in human eye

Since its emergence in Wuhan, China, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread rapidly over most of the world’s inhabited regions, causing millions of cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths. The primary symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, are fever, dry cough, and tiredness.

25 May 2020

SARS-CoV-2 is uniquely adapted to infect humans

The novel coronavirus pandemic has sparked much debate on its origin, with some suggesting it may have been laboratory-grown. Previous studies, however, mentioned that it is zoonotic in nature, which means that the virus jumped from wild animals and found its way to humans.

25 May 2020